Officials: Washed up whale died due to human interaction

SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. (AP) — Officials believe a whale that washed ashore in New Jersey died due to human interaction.

WCAU-TV in Philadelphia (http://6abc.cm/2dbtmdH ) reports that a necropsy on the 20-ton, 33-foot whale revealed it was emaciated.

Officials with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine say the whale may have been caught in fishing line at some point, causing an injury that left the mammal unable to eat enough. They also believe it was hit by a ship after it had died.

FILE - In a Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 file photo, a dead humpback whale is pulled up the beach by a bulldozer after the mammal washed up on the beach at the Jersey Shore in Sea Isle City. N.J. Officials believe the whale died due to human interaction. A a necropsy completed Saturday on the 20-ton, 33-foot whale revealed it was emaciated. (Jacqueline L. Urgo/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Officials believe the whale was dead in the water for several days before it washed up on the beach in Sea Isle City on Friday afternoon.